Robert E. Holmes

Robert E. Holmes is Dean of the School of Business and Graduate School of Management at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The UAB business school serves some 2000 graduate and undergraduate students with the faculty and staff of 95 faculty and staff. All accounting and business programs are accredited by AACSB International. The school has achieved national visibility for a number of its programs including accounting and industrial distribution. The UAB Graduate School of Management has recently implemented an MBA for Scientists Program and a Certificate in Technology Entrepreneurship in collaboration with UAB’s world class medical and research programs and these two initiatives have gained national recognition. Prior to coming to UAB in January, 1999, Holmes served as Dean of the F. W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, Wellesley, MA 1995-1998. During his tenure, Babson’s MBA program in entrepreneurial studies was ranked #1 in surveys published in U. S. News and World Report and Success Magazine and the evening MBA program was ranked 9th in the U.S. The graduate school received a $30 million gift from the F. W. Olin Foundation, built a new building, and was recognized internationally for its innovative full-time MBA program and its international programs. Holmes was Dean of the College of Business at James Madison University in Virginia from 1983-1995. Highlights of his 12 years there include: AACSB accreditation of all accounting and business programs; creation of the first school of accounting in Virginia, establishment of a Center for Entrepreneurship; design and construction of a new business building; successful completion of a major capital campaign; and the initiation of a number of curricula and organizational innovations. He is the co-author of four management textbooks, numerous articles, cases, and papers, and has served as a consultant to a number of major firms including IBM, Sprint, Texas Instruments, VICAT, et. al. He has served on the boards of several business firms and not-for-profit organizations as well as on more than 40 peer review teams (chairing over 25 visits) for the AACSB. He served on the Board of Directors of the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce, and currently serves on the boards of the Rotary Club of Birmingham, Entrepreneurial Center, TechBirmingham, the Alabama Economic Education Association, and Medical Properties Trust, listed on the NYSE.